‘Tis The Season…

Y’all, I’m so not ready for Christmas! I mean, seriously. We haven’t had Thanksgiving yet! But Thursday will be here in just a couple more sleeps… and it’s time to start talking to you about Christmas. So as a mini-revolt against Christmas taking over Thanksgiving, I decided to tell you what I’m thankful for… about Christmas.

I’m thankful for family traditions.

I grew up in a Christian home. I remember that one thing we ALWAYS did, every Christmas Eve before we opened gifts was that we ALWAYS read the story of Christ’s birth from Luke 2. We’d eat dinner, and while the menu was usually the same, sometimes it varied. The dessert was always different, the tree always looked a little different, but that reading of Luke 2 was the same. Grandpa or Daddy or I (once I was old enough) would read the Christmas story. The reason for the season was never overlooked.

Cody grew up similarly. Every Christmas Eve, his family went to church to light candles and sing hymns with their church family and celebrate the birth of Christ. Because it was important to both sets of our parents to make sure that we as kids knew that Christmas wasn’t just about the giving and receiving of gifts… it was about the Ultimate Gift that God gave to us – His Son, Jesus Christ.

I’m so thankful for those traditions. But now, as a mom, I feel the pressure of the commercial world. Christmas is all about the decorations and the presents and the big fat man with a jolly beard who gives gifts to good kids. It’s about an elf who watches behavior and about how full your stocking is with technology items. Heck, Christmas isn’t even about spending time with family any more – its about seeing how fast you can open your presents so you can go play with them. Maybe it always has been, but for me, Christmas was about family, and about that story we read. It was about celebrating the birth of Christ.

And I’m thankful for that. I’m also thankful that Becca is growing up wanting to make Jesus a birthday cake every year. She came up with that idea when she was just 17 months old, and now we do it every year as a special part of our Christmas Eve traditions. Because THAT is the reason for the season! He is the reason why we celebrate. We give gifts because of Saint Nicholas and all that he gave to the children who were poor and needy. We give gifts to remember the Ultimate Gift that God gave us….

But in all of that, how do we juggle it all? I mean, December only has 24 days before the “big day” to fit everything in. Christmas has crept into November, and taken over Thanksgiving. The shopping for presents begins earlier and earlier every year. Heck, many stores even begin putting out their Christmas stuff before Halloween… because there just isn’t enough time to prepare for Christmas and all the hubbub. So how on Earth are we as busy parents supposed to make time to keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas?

I have a fabulous and easy set of printables I want you to check out. They’re on sale for a limited time before Black Friday (code: PREBLACKFRI10OFF to save $10), and you can find the whole set here. (Aff link, thank you!) This set isn’t about making more work for you, it’s about making Christ the center of Christmas and it’s SUPER EASY to print out what you want and has guides to give you ideas for how to use the items with all different ages of kids! I’m so excited to get all of my stuff printed out and set up this weekend (yes, AFTER Thanksgiving!) so that we can begin focusing on all the important parts of CHRISTmas. Alicia Michelle has really outdone herself on this set, and I hope and pray that you will invest in this set for your family. You can reprint pieces year after year, or print everything the first time on card stock and then laminate so all you have to do is pull it out and hang it up in the future. There are decorations, activities, and so much more in this set. I will be posting on my Facebook page as we complete certain parts of the set, and I hope that you will merge this set into your family traditions and share your photos as well – I know you will be blessed, and so will your kids!